Tasha first contested the 400m hurdles seriously in 1997 when she went to the University of Southern California. She has been primarily based in Los Angeles, USA since, where she is coached by her husband Darrell Smith. Since giving birth to her son Jaden in December 2004, Danvers has been consistently one of the best hurdlers in the world, having made every final she has contested.

Having stepped up from the 100m hurdles to the 400m hurdles, Danvers made the Commonwealth Games final in 1998 and the Olympic final in 2000 but the majority of her success has come in recent seasons. Having made the Commonwealth Games finals in 1998 and 2002, Danvers finally made the podium in 2006, winning the silver medal behind Australia’s Jana Rawlinson and at the European Championships, Danvers again made the final, finishing seventh.

In 2007, Danvers’ form prior to the World Championships was consistently solid but the American-based Brit was not the running times, which would have suggested she would have made the final in Osaka, but in the semi-final, Danvers lowered her season’s best from 55.23 to 54.08 to make the final, where she finished eighth.

Danvers’ build-up to the Olympic Games was very disrupted and once again, the Shaftsbury Barnet athlete appeared out of sorts and there was some controversy over her selection, as she was second at the Olympic Trials behind Perri Shakes-Drayton, but the experienced competitor completely justified her selection, breezing through her opening heat, before placing second in her semi-final in another season’s best of 54.31 and in the final, Danvers ran an aggressive race and did not stutter over the final two flights of hurdles, as she finished strongly to take the bronze medal in a lifetime best of 53.84.

She maintained her form on the European circuit post Olympics, finishing in the top three in Gateshead, Lausanne, Rieti and Zagreb.

2009 started off well and she topped the PofTen rankings before injury cut short her season. The 2010 season started late and only amounted to one race before curtailing her season once again through injury. 2011 also followed much the same pattern with only one outing.

Tasha is also an abstract artist and has had a motivational book published. Her father Don Danvers was English Schools Intermediate 100m hurdles champion in 1970.